Comfort-Max Gel Seat Pad

A Low-Cost Approach To Better Backside Comfort

Scott "Bones" Williams: It’s one thing to get off your bike to enjoy a view or grab a bite. It’s quite another to get off your bike because your butt just can’t take any more.

A low-cost approach to better backside comfort is a sheepskin seat cover. It adds some cushion and the natural fleece fibers keep you cooler when it’s hot and warmer when it’s cold. If cost isn’t the issue, a custom-made saddle—complete with butt-conforming gel padding—can replace an uncomfortable stock seat.

Occupying the practical middle ground is the Comfort-Max Gel Seat Pad. The cover is genuine sheep. The fleece is dense and nicely finished. (A waterproof neoprene cover is also available.) Inside is a layer of memory foam over multiple layers of gel padding bonded together. The padding’s shape conforms to your shape to reduce localized pressure.

Depending on your bike’s seat cover texture, the non-skid material on the cover’s underside may hold the pad in place. There’s also a Velcro strip sewn across the cover’s underside and a mating Velcro strap with tabs that grip the lower edges of your seat. Adjust the slide buckles to secure the pad where you want it to stay.

I tested a large (14-inch by 11-inch) pad on my Kawasaki Versys. On a laid-back ride up the Connecticut River Valley in Vermont, I stopped after more than 200 miles, but only because the gauge flashed “FUEL.” The whole ride, my backside was pampered.

The ride home emphasized winding roads. I typically slide across the seat to shift weight when carving curves. I did find that the pad gripped my backside more than I’d want for up-tempo riding.

The Comfort-Max Gel Seat Pad is two-inches thick and significantly raised my seat height. That’s worth considering if you’re short like me and reaching the ground is already a challenge. If you want a taller seating position, the pad offers an approach.

The Comfort-Max Gel Seat Pad comes in a range of sizes and shapes to fit rider and pillion seats and the backsides that sit on them.